BUCHANAN — It was a satisfying doubleheader split Tuesday for the Brandywine softball team against Buchanan.

With their 3-2 win in game two, the Bobcats won the outright Lakeland Conference title. It’s Brandywine’s first league title since 2007. The Bobcats, who finish at 5-1 in the league and stand at 22-8 overall, also snapped an 11-game losing streak to the Bucks, dating back to 2008.

“It’s huge,” said Brandywine coach Angela Mellott about winning the conference and beating the Bucks. “For the two seniors (Mikayla Kemp and Rachael Ort) it’s the first time they’ve beaten Buchanan. I told them (after the game) that’s the way to go out as seniors.”

In the second game, Kemp pitched well on the mound and had a clutch hit. Her two-out RBI single gave Brandywine a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning.

Brandywine also got a two-out RBI double from Ayralynn LaSane in the sixth inning and a two-out RBI single from Maranda Smallmon.

The Bobcats had 12 hits in game two and stranded 11 baserunners, including six in scoring position.

“We get in the habit of leaving too many runners on base,” Mellott said. “But we’re hitting the ball. There’s not much more you can ask for.”

Kemp didn’t allow her first hit until the sixth inning when Emma Schmidt singled for the Bucks.

Buchanan put the most offensive pressure on Kemp in the seventh inning. The Bucks scored two runs on three hits with Jade Mosier and Alia Dobrzykowski collecting RBI singles. With Dobrzykowski on first, Kemp got a groundout to third base to end the game.

“She pitched her game,” Mellott said about her starting pitcher. “She knew her defense was behind her. It we make defensive plays she can pitch a much better game. At the end, we kind of got a little shaky. She started aiming and got a little wild there.”

Buchanan coach Mike Welsh wasn’t happy about his team’s defense or lack of hitting in game two. The Bucks committed three errors in the second game which led to an unearned Brandywine run in the sixth inning.

“We didn’t make routine plays on defense,” said the Bucks coach. “I asked our players (after the game) why do they get desperate (offensively) at the end. You should be desperate at the start and be aggressive at the plate at the start of the game, instead of doing it late. We’ve been doing that a lot lately and against good teams it’s too late. Brandywine is a much improved ball club. They’ve got some solid players. They wanted (a conference title) a whole lot more than we did and they got it. Now, we’re playing for the rubber match at districts (on June 1).”

Michaela Hartline collected four hits in game two for Brandywine.

In the opener, Brandywine committed four errors, which led to two unearned runs for Buchanan.

The Bobcats took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning on Kelly Harper’s RBI double. The Bucks responded with a run in the fourth and a run in the sixth.

Winning pitcher Kaitlynn Enders struck out 10 and allowed five hits.

LaSane doubled with two outs in the seventh for Brandywine, but was left stranded.

“Best kind of split you can imagine,” Mellott said. “The first game we should have had and we made some errors and it cost us. I told them (in between games) that we had to come back and play our game (in game two) and we did. I’m very proud of my team.”

 

First game 

Brandywine 000 100 0 – 1 5 4

Buchanan 000 101  x – 2 5 0

Mikayla Kemp (L) and Rachael Ort; Kaitlynn Enders (W) and Jayla Carrigan

2B: Michaela Hartline (BW), Kelly Harper (BW), Ayralynn LaSane (BW), Jade Mosier (BU)

 

Second game

Brandywine 000 101 1 – 3 12 3

Buchanan 000 000 2 – 2 4 3

Mikayla Kemp (W) and Rachael Ort; Kaitlynn Enders (L) and Jayla Carrigan

2B: Ayralynn LaSane (BW)